As the title says, it is a nice campground, and we would recommend it to anyone, but actually getting a reservation is difficult. I tried for two years before I finally got a reservation. While we were camping (last weekend in March), I checked again and it was all booked up 😨 all summer, crazy. Primitive sites are easy to reserve, and they are in a nice little holler, that offers plenty of shade from the sun, which will be nice in the summer.

They have nice bathrooms/showers/toilets. Need updated but cleanliness is what matters most. Laundry facilities on site too. Wifi available bc there is no LTE service. We love fishing on Paintsville Lake! The boat dock is just above the playground and basketball/volleyball courts, plus there are plenty of places to fish on the bank. Gorgeous views. The Marina has a restaurant in in, but we didn’t get the chance to try it. There is also a gas station 2-3mins up the road that has firewood and propane. It is 10 mins from town too. It is right on the lake so expect geese poop. And as for doggie poop, they even have poo bag stations set up in several different places! Of course we bring our own, but it’s the first campground I’ve seen offer that.

The RV sites are level with gravel and spaced apart. If you’re thinking about camping here AND can get a reservation, do it.

Wonderful little campground! I would recommend sites 10-12 as they are the biggest, and #12 has the most shade from the trees nearby. We stayed in #15 and we should have parked next to the concrete pad instead of closer to the hookups, but we managed to level our TT out anyways. Plush green grass on the sites and my side was next to a little creek. It was gorgeous. We spent our days at the waterpark and evenings by the fire. Can’t wait to return.

I’ve been camping here for 25 years, since I was 2 years old, so you can understand that this campground has a special place in my heart. We’ve camped the double sites, single sites, non-electric, you name it. There is only two sites with a full hook up, and the rest are either electric or non-electric, no water at either of them. We fill our fresh water tank when we come in at a water spigot, or we get a spot that has a close water spigot and use a really long water hose as needed. Bathhouses and restrooms as always clean, and hosts are friendly and informative. I have a family of two young boys and two furbabies, and we’ve never camped near a ‘party site’, though I’m sure if you acted like you had some sense, played music low, and threw back a few beers, no one would mind. Never had to complain on anyone. I highly recommend this campground, and would suggest it to anyone that loves to camp.

Part 1, The Bad; The only reason I didn’t give Holly Bay the 5 stars it deserves is because of a reservation mixup due to an employee/host. Booked our double campsite (PRIME RATED, F5) 5 months in advance on June 15th. Due to the Covid pandemic, Holly Bay didn’t open until June 11th and most of the sites were walk-up only. Well someone decided to let a walk-up reserve our campsite from June 11-17th, two days into my reservation. We were upset but the older gentleman in the booth said it wasn’t their fault and was a reservation mix-up due to the reserving website (Recreation.gov). They gave us another double site (G11) and free firewood, that we gracefully accepted, and were still pretty happy with. We are not picky campers at all. We didn’t cause a stink or anything. Two days into camping, the host from F comes and tells us that we HAVE to move back to our original site, that the people that had reserved the one we were on had called corporate and they have ALL RIGHTS to the campsite if it’s reserved in your name. We didn’t know this. No one told us this. So because we didn’t throw a big stink over it, we got screwed anyway. Sometimes being nice just isn’t worth it. 😠 So we packed up 2+ hours of setting up work and went to our other site to re-set up again. Then we came to find out that it wasn’t a mix-up on the website, but an employee had messed up and when he discovered the overlapping reservation, he didn’t want to ask the other campers to leave🤯 We were also told they had to report him to upper management so I hope he doesn’t do that to other people in the future…. The host from F was so nice though, and told is we could have more firewood and she would mail us a voucher for two free nights for future use. So know this, IF IT’S RESERVED IN YOUR NAME, YOU HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO THE CAMPSITE DURING YOUR RESERVATION WINDOW. Kick’em off. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Part 2, The Great; Other than that not so little mix-up, we still had a wonderful time. We hiked, swam, fished, and loved all the views. Arnold’s Grocery has great food and ice cream! Plenty of room between the sites, clean bathrooms, but no laundry facilities though. We will definitely be back again. A great campground far outweighs poor management, imo. Happy Camping!

We stay here several times a year. Very clean facilities, friendly hosts, and a wonderful location on the lake. Site #25 is our favorite, though it could be more level, but the privacy, size, and shade are perfect for us.